Dreamworld inquest: Theme park ride pump failed 'repeatedly' in lead up to tragedy

A former Dreamworld staffer has labelled the repeated failures of a ride's water pump "ridiculous" about an hour before another malfunction led to the deaths of four guests.

Sarah Cotter was supervising staff on the Thunder River Rapids ride at the Gold Coast theme park on October 25, 2016 when a water pump failed twice within two hours.

Exasperated by an error she would later tell police happened "frequently" in the days before the tragedy, Ms Cotter sought answers from a park technician who had been called to repair the problem.

"What are we doing about this problem? This is ridiculous," Ms Cotter told the engineer in a police statement shown to a Queensland Coroner's Court inquest into the deaths on the Gold Coast yesterday.

Ms Cotter was then told the ride would be shut down if the failure happened again that day.

From left: Cindy Low, Luke Dorsett, his partner Roozi Araghi, and his sister Kate Goodchild were all killed when the ride malfunctioned in 2016. Picture: AAP (AAP)

Approximately an hour later the pump malfunctioned again leading to a collision between two rafts and the deaths of Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi.

Ms Cotter told the inquest she was unaware of a Dreamworld breakdown policy that stated a ride had to be shut down and authority sought from an engineering supervisor if there were two exact malfunctions within a 24-hour period.

Ms Cotter echoed the statements of staff who have already given evidence at the inquest by labelling the 30-year-old Thunder River Rapids ride one of the most complex to operate in the park.

The coroner also heard a warning regarding the risk of rafts flipping, listed in Dreamworld's first-aid policy, was removed and that Dreamworld executives stopped spending money on repairs and maintenance in the months before a fatal accident.

An inquest was shown minutes from an executive meeting that revealed the spending cutbacks.

Dreamworld's executive made the decision despite a newly appointed safety manager telling the Southport Coroners Court the park's safety systems were inadequate at the time of the tragedy.

Mark Thompson, who had been in the role for seven months when the tragedy occurred, said safety systems at the theme park had multiple issues including an "archaic" computer filing system and too few qualified safety staff to monitor issues.

The inquiry continues as safety and maintenance inspectors are questioned. Picture: AAP (9news)

The park had also received two extensions from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) to ensure safety inspections were undertaken to renew Dreamworld's registration.

It was not stated in court if the inspection for the Thunder River Rapids ride had been completed at the time of the tragedy.

"The system of the safety team was not as it should have been," Mr Thompson said.

A health and safety policy for the park hadn't been updated in six years at the time of the tragedy despite Mr Thompson saying it should have been reviewed "on a three-year basis".

An external audit of safety systems in July 2015 gave the park a score of 61.6 percent, which was a "significant improvement" on the 2014 score of 46.1 percent.

A 75 percent score is required for full compliance.

Shayne Goodchild, the father of Luke Dorsett and Kate Goodchild, arrives at the inquest today. Picutre: AAP (AAP)

Mr Thompson said only two of the park's 14-strong executive safety committee had formal safety qualifications, and that at least six were needed to properly deal with workplace health and safety at Dreamworld.

He said following the tragedy the team he'd requested was hired and on the ground by January 2017.